Pangasius is not a synonym for catfish, it is only one of many catfish.

Martin

correct

catfish is Katzenwels (but exists only abroad)

the indigenous huge catfish that can be caught in CH is called Wels

Correct. The list posted is only a guideline of what family a fish comes from and how it's sold in CH.

There are hundreds of thousands of varieties of fish. For example there are 48 varieties of Tuna. To name a few:

Albacore
Yellowfin Tuna
Blackfin Tuna
Southern Bluefin Tuna
Bigeye Tuna
Pacific Bluefin Tuna
Northern Bluefin Tuna
Longtail Tuna
Karasick Tuna

The family of Catfish is huge and depends upon where it originates. There are 37 known Catfish families. There are both saltwater and freshwater Catfish. Catfish can be found in South America, Africa, Australia, North America and Asia.

In North America, you typically consume Channel Catfish or Blue Catfish. Due to it's popularity, a lot of Catfish in North America is now farmed.

I thought that, too, until recently but the difference is in the taste. Dorsch is a very mild tasting fish but Kabeljau has almost a sweet taste to it which buggered up my fish pie (it does not go well with salmon in the same dish!).

Lumpfish=Seehase

Trade with fisheg from this fish is very popular, it is some of the poor mans caviar and its used in some sushi dishes.

A bit more research done:
The difference between the two is sexual maturity.
Apparently the young fish that has yet to reach sexual maturity (3 years) is known as Dorsch.
The same fish that has reached sexual maturity (5 years plus) is Kabeljau.

The younger fish is milder tasting whereas the mature fish has a more pronounced flavour.

I'm quite surprised that it didn't go well in your fish pie. I'd suggest you stick to the Dorsch for your pies. Most fish pie recipes call for Cod, Haddock, Pollack or Halibutt. Did you add some smoked Haddock to the pie? I find having both a smoked fish as well as a fresh fish adds a depth of flavour to a fish pie. I personally don't like Salmon so only used a white fish and a smoked fish in my pies.

So if a young Cod is Dorsch whats the german name for a mature cod?

thanks for this thread and list Me, Myself and I - buying fish has always been confusing to me and i have just been buying what I think looks OK.

I also bought some Halibut at the weekend as it 'was' my favourite white fish but it was nothing like what i remember having back home in the UK - I remember it being meaty and thickish steaks, these were fine thin flaky fillet with a very strong not very nice flavour - was very disappointed

I don't recall seeing a german translation for Haddock on the lists?

You're most welcome Nicky.

Mature Cod is Kabeljau.
Haddock in German is Schellfisch or Haddock.

Thank you very useful -

You're most welcome Helena.

At the market you can buy char (arctic char). In Switzerland there is Seesaibling and Bachsaibling. Seesaibling cannot be farmed as it likes to chill in lakes around 40 Meters in depth or deeper. So if you find Seesaibling it is either a by-catch or it is actually Bachsaibling (literally "creek" char) that can be farmed in ponds...


It is important to cook char at low temps or otherwise when it has already "aged" a day or two or otherwise the protein will come out and the flesh will taste rather dry and tasteless (this is one of the few examples where the fresher fish is not necessarily the tastiest). If you cook it slowly though it will be some of the yummiest fish you will ever have...

We've recently completed a handy fish translation table covering salt water, fresh water and shellfish varieties commonly found in Switzerland...the translations are in English, German (Also some Swiss German), French and Italian. It is available free of charge and can be downloaded in pdf format...

download a pdf version of our fish translations

Enjoy!

Fantastic!! I just wish that I had had all this information a year ago ...

This thread is fantastic, but I'm still a little confused about the regular varieties of cod and haddock and the smoked versions.

I would really like to make a fish pie recipe which calls for smoked haddock. In the past I have used smoked cod (I'm from Australia), which has that beautiful orange color and also a strong flavour, and it turned out perfect.

If I go to buy some fish and ask for 'Seelachs' will I get Pollock (a cheaper version of haddock?). Or should I ask for Kabeljau? I'm really looking for a 'smoked' fish that will work in a fish pie.

Both pollock and cod work well in a fish pie . . . I'd go for pollock as it's more sustainable and also less expensive. However, neither of these will provide the smoky flavour that smoked haddock delivers. You should probably visit Jelmoli and Globus and see what smoked fish they have . . . I suspect one of them may have kippers.